Seagull Models - Arising Star Refit

I have recently been very kindly given this Seagull Arising Star which I intend to use as my new trainer. I have a spare DX6i so I can easily buddy box it to my current radio. I don't know much about the history of this particular model, only that it has come from the BMFA headquarters in Buckminster. Having examined the wingtips and the underside of the tail, I doubt this model has been flown much as they are unscathed by the harsh touch of concrete. I suspect that most of the problems with this model will have cropped up in storage rather than in flight...

I plan to strip the aircraft of its covering, take the tank out for an inspection and give it a once over with sand paper to get the model back to its former glory. In the way of structural damage I haven't found anything serious, mainly just some sheeting bust loose on the underside of the wing and a few cap strips knocked free.

I'm going to fit the model with some nice green hobbyking covering film and bolt an OS FS52 Surpass four stroke up front.

Having spend about three hours slaved over the model with a sharp knife and a moderate amount of patience, the covering has been removed. Hurrah!

The covering had been glued down in several places which made it a tough job to remove. With the covering off now, I can see that the model is practically new underneath the punctured, dirty covering. With a bit of sanding of the rough edges and the glue on the nose and edges of the fuselage removed, the model will be ready for new covering.

I haven't however removed the control surfaces yet, if I'm honest I'm prolonging the task as the hinges are pinned in and will take some time to remove. Once they are off however I shall turn my attention to the fuel tank although I expect everything will be in order there.

I also had to buy an exhaust header for the FS52 4 stroke as the flexible pipe gave in the other day. Now the engine is ready to go in which should make for a seemingly speedy installation if the mounting holes on the installed mount can be adapted.

That's an interesting suggestion that I hadn't considered! I think for this one I'll stick to the tricycle gear format simply because the steerable nose wheel is all set up. It'd also be nice to have a tricycle for a change as I tend to go for the tail dragger designs more often and I barely have any tricycles!

Check all the wood to wood joints too Luccaaa.....ARTF manufacturers are not noted for their liberal use of glue so now is the time to check sufficient has been used.

If in doubt wick a bit of CA into the joints. Gussets can add a huge amount of strength for very little weight. Check the firewall too & you might consider pinning it in place with a couple of cocktail sticks either side (drill 1.5mm hole through the side & into the firewall....dab of white glue or epoxy & tap a cocktail stick into the hole. Trim off & sand) Adds masses of strength & no weight.....

Thanks for the reminder on the joints, I’ve already glued up some odds and ends in the tail! As for the firewall, I haven’t given it a good look yet but I may as you say do some reinforcement there. It’d be nice to keep this one off the workbench for a good long time...

I spent some time pulling the pins out of the hinges and have removed the control surfaces and the covering on and around them. I also noted that the throttle pushrod was on the wrong side for the FS52s so I've moved the throttle servo over to the left and created a new run for the pushrod which seems fine. I used that opportunity to get the tank out and have a look at that. It seems fine inside and out.

Next step is to do a little bit of sanding and tidying up in areas, particularly where the covering pulled strips out on the leading edges of the tail section when removed (I'd be lying if I said I removed the covering too carefully).

Indeed your right that the lead is in a rather odd place, I’m afraid I found it in the model when I got it! I’m not sure why the previous owner would’ve put lead over the C of G, but I plan to remove it. Most of it is not fastened securely anyway so it won’t be a problem.

I'm afraid I have become tired of waiting for hobbyking to restock their covering, so I ordered some good old Solarfilm. Having lightly sanded the wings and fuselage I am not in the process of covering the model. Also in the mean time I have test run the engine - runs fantastically! I've pretty much finished on the fuselage now and am moving onto the wings. Hoping to have this one off the bench today...

Well that's me done for today, perhaps it was an unrealistic goal for it to be all done today! I'm pretty much there with the covering, all I have to do now is the control surfaces. Fingers crossed I'll have it done by tomorrow...

It's a nice easy flier, a good first trainer. Mine flew well on an SC 40 two stroke. Only problem I had was that the piano wire main u/c legs were rather soft and easily bent on anything but greaser landing, resulting in the tail dipping and inducing a bounce. The 'sit' of the plane on the ground should be with the nose just slightly low so that when it touches down it stays there. Beefing up the u/c would help, but I never got round to it.

Nicely aerobatic, but neither I nor my instructor could get it to spin, only spiral down -making it nice and safe for a trainer

Once I’ve gotten the engine in I’ll take your advice and sort out the models stance on the ground. I’m not sure if I’ll end up reinforcing the landing gear just yet, we have a rather rough runway at my model club, full of pot holes and the like so I think I’d prefer the landing gear to bend than to transfer that stress to the model. I’ll have to see if I can force it into a spin somehow when it’s flying, must be possible